The process of providing feedback to drivers of vehicles can take a significantly long period of time in many cases. Typical methods of receiving input about a driver's performance include examining the fuel that the driver consumes, tracking travel times for the driver and input from passengers that is only provided very infrequently. It can take a long time for such inputs to be analyzed and correlated to spot potential areas for improvement.
Another method to gather input about a driver's performance is to place an observer on the vehicle. If the driver does not have knowledge of the observer, the information collected by the observer is typically recorded and analyzed first.
With all of these inputs, any feedback generated as a result generally is provided well after the actual performance being analyzed. As a result, the driver may not recall the particular performance. Further, any negative performance feedback provided makes the driver feel threatened.
In some cases, the driver's performance is analyzed openly, with an overt observer riding the vehicle to observe the driver's performance. In such cases, while the feedback may be provided in a relatively timely manner to the driver, the driver may alter his driving behavior in response to the presence of the overt observer on the vehicle.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a system and method for providing feedback to a vehicle driver.